Can't let go  Road Trip  What Now?
by Squirmy McCoy
Summary: I decided to combine my 3 stories into 1 to make it easier on everyone. Takes place after I'll Be Seeing You; Jo and Zane can't stop thinking about each other and Zoe decides to make things right.
1. Chapter 1

She played the kiss over and over in her mind, cursing herself for losing control and kissing him back. Yesterday, she would have died of happiness to feel his arms around her. Tonight was a million times worse – he'd kissed her just to gauge her reaction, to make her tell him the truth. It was the most wonderful, terrifying feeling and then Zoe had walked in and she had regained her sanity. At least she had made a dignified exit without giving anything else away. And now she was lying in her bed, staring into the darkness, still feeling his mouth on hers, his hands on her waist, her fingers touching his jaw – ah, this is going to drive me crazy, she thought, climbing out of bed.

He stared at his drink. What was going on? Was this real? It had to be. She had his grandmother's ring. And she had melted into his touch as if she was coming home. But the Jo Lupo he'd always known had nothing but contempt for him. And he, well, she was hot, but she was made of steel and ice and they had nothing in common except that she enforced the rules he had so much fun breaking… Zoe touched his hand, breaking his chain of thought.

"Zane, are you okay? You haven't said a word in 15 minutes."

"Sorry, Zo, I was just thinking about…work."

"Work? You? Your time in the big house sobered you big time." She grinned at him. He smiled back. Zoe was gorgeous, a bit too young for him, but he had no intention of turning this, whatever it was, into anything serious. Or anything at all, really. Spending time with her put a flea in Carter's ear and he intended on enjoying watching the man squirm. Well, at least he planned on it. But this thing with Jo…

"I hope Jo wasn't too mean to you this time." Zoe broke into his thoughts again.

"What? No, no. I barely saw her. She was just there signing papers."

Zoe grabbed a fry off his plate. "She looks tired lately. I know you're not her biggest fan, but I've been worried about her. She hasn't been sleeping well lately."

He stood up. "Neither have I. I'm sorry, Zoe, I know you wanted to celebrate, but I'm exhausted. Mind if we call it a night?"

Disappointment crossed her face, but she said "Oh, no, I completely understand. Maybe we can hang out later?"

"Yeah, later." She came around the table and hugged him. She pulled back, looking up at him as if she was going to try for a kiss. He stepped back, smiling at her. "Night, Zoe."

Looking confused, she replied, "good night."

As he walked out, he nodded to Vincent, who shot him a look, and then looked at Zoe. Zane started reassessing his timeline and strategy on letting Zoe down easily.

An hour on the shooting range was not enough to take her mind off of Zane. Jo finished putting away her cleaning supplies and washed her hands. At least I'm not still at Carter's, she thought. I won't have to hear Carter and Allison and if Zane and Zoe… She cut off that thought. It wouldn't go that far. Carter wouldn't let it. She walked past the dojo. Working out was the only way she could tire herself out enough to sleep these days, but tonight that wasn't going to be enough. She picked up the phone and hit the speed dial. "Allison? I'm not interrupting anything, am I? Listen, I haven't been able to sleep lately…"

Zane finished toweling off and pulled on a t-shirt. His grandmother's ring sat on top of his dresser. He picked it up, turning it over and over. I must have really loved her. But she said something about me not respecting her… I guess I can see that happening. He smiled slightly. I can be kind of a prick. But what now? He put the ring in the top drawer and laid back, staring into space. That kiss was something.

Jo walked in the house and locked the door behind her. It was nice of Allison to call GD and order some sleep aids for me, she thought. Maybe I won't dream. She cracked open the bottle of pills and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. A few minutes later, she was in bed, waiting for sleep to take her. His mouth on mine, his arms around me, the smell of his skin… I wish the kiss never happened, she thought. I'm so glad it did. I don't want to hope, but I'm so tired of being unhappy. Her hand crept up to her chest where his ring used to lie. She closed her eyes. His mouth on mine, his arms around me, the look in his eyes when he let me go….


	2. Jo's Dream

She couldn't move. Jo looked around her for signs of restraints, but there were none. She was just frozen to the spot. Fingers trailed down her arm. Her head jerked up – it was Zane. And she was at… his house? Well, it looked like her Zane's house, but this wasn't her Zane. His hair was too short, shoulders too wide. And he was staring at her. And stroking her arm. His hand slid back up her arm and off as he walked behind her. She tried to speak, but nothing would come out. He stood behind her, close enough for her to feel the heat radiating from him, but not touching her. She closed her eyes and listened to him breathe. And then his hands were on her shoulders and sliding down her arms again. She started to shake from the need to move, to say something, anything. Zane stepped around and faced her, looking her up and down. His eyes lingered on her hips, her breasts, her mouth. He stepped closer and stroked her hair. He pulled the band from her ponytail, making her hair cascade down around her shoulders. He touched her cheek, fingers tracing her jaw and cheekbones as he stared into her eyes. Jo was trembling so much her teeth were chattering. She gritted them and looked down. Zane gently lifted her chin up, forcing her to look at him.

"What do you want, Jo-Jo?" he asked her.

To her horror, she heard herself beg. "Kiss me, Zane, please, please, please, please, just kiss me!"

She expected him to smirk, but his face was completely stoic as he leaned closer. Jo closed her eyes and felt his lips brush hers, but then he pulled away. She whimpered and immediately flushed with shame. She opened her eyes. He was an inch away from her, close enough to kiss if she could move. He touched her lips with his forefinger and turned away. She closed her eyes again. Just another experiment, she thought. God, I hate him.

"No, you don't," Zane murmured into her ear. He slipped his arms around her and pulled her close. She stared at him. He smiled slightly, licked his lips, and kissed her. Thoroughly. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around his neck and then pulled away in shock when she realized that she had moved. He pulled her back and kissed her again. Jo tried to think about resisting, but she wanted this too badly. She slid her hands up the sides of his face and kissed him back with all the pent up emotion of the past 2 months. They broke apart, breathing heavily. She opened her mouth to tell him everything and the alarm went off.

Jo Lupo sat up in bed and screamed. She grabbed the bottle of pills from her night stand and threw it across the room. Just a dream. A stupid dream. God, I need a vacation.


	3. Chapter 3

Jo paused outside the infirmary. The last time she had walked in there, she'd seen… them. She knew that Zane wasn't at GD today; as security chief, a list of who was and wasn't in the building was emailed to her every day, more often, if needed. But the memory of seeing Zane look at Zoe like _that_ was still fresh enough to make her hesitate. She cleared her throat, straightened her jacket, and walked in.

"Jo!" Allison greeted her warmly. "Did you sleep last night?"

Jo nodded. "It worked, but it made my dreams very vivid. And that's why I'm here. I don't want to dream." She cleared her throat again and looked away.

Allison's brow creased and then she nodded sympathetically. She inclined her head towards her office and the two walked over and sat down. Allison initiated the privacy field. "You've been dreaming about Zane?"

"Who else?" Jo rubbed her forehead. "I know that this Zane isn't my Zane. That's been shoved in my face often enough. I'm trying to move on. But it's not that easy."

"And seeing him with Zoe is making things worse." Allison looked at her friend and frowned. "Is that why you stopped wearing the ring?"

Jo's fingertips brushed her collar. "Not exactly." She shifted in her seat. "When we were having hallucinations, I sort of, threw it at Zane. This Zane." Allison's jaw dropped. "I thought it was the one in my head, I swear, but it… wasn't."

"Well, what did he say?"

"He asked me why I had his grandmother's ring." And then he kissed me, she thought, and shivered.

Allison's frown deepened. "That could be a problem, Jo. A huge problem. What if he goes to the DOD?"

Jo shook her head and smiled bitterly. "This is still criminal Zane, remember? I know him. The worst thing that will happen is that he'll torment me about it forever."

Allison thought about Henry and Grace and how they were handling things, Zoe's stormy face when saw her at Café Diem last night, and Zane's face when she ran into him that morning when she was picking up her coffee. She watched Jo rubbing her arms and suddenly had an inkling of what had happened post ring toss. Suppressing a smile, she said, "I don't know about that. But we all need to be careful."

Jo looked rebellious. "Everyone else has an outlet but me. You and Carter have each other, Henry has Grace, and Fargo, well, he relies on you and me. But who can I talk to?"

"Jo." Allison said sternly, and stopped. She said quietly, "Jo, I'm sorry. Jack and I, well, we've been wrapped up in each other. But we'll be there for you more, if you need us." Jo looked up at her and nodded. "Now, about your dreams. Jo, I'm sorry. I can't give you something to stop you from dreaming. Humans need to dream as a way of defragging the brain. If you didn't dream, you'd go crazy."

"I'm going crazy _now_."

"You may think so, but it would be like you were affected by the mood modulator again. You would become paranoid, then enraged, and then you would go insane." She looked over at Jo, who shook her head.

"Okay, so what are my other options?"

"Well, another option would be a technique called lucid dreaming. The only drawback would be that you would have to concentrate on the dreams that you are having now, write them down, and explore –"

Jo stood up. "NO! Just – no." She sat back down.

Allison looked at Jo and the deep circles under her eyes. She was slumping down in her chair. Jo always prided herself on being ready for any emergency, but she didn't look like she could handle a paper cut. "Jo, the only other answer I can give you, and the one I'm going to tell you to do, is to get away for a while."

Jo looked startled. "Wait, what? I can't go away! Fargo would –"

"Fargo will be fine. He has me and Jack, and Henry and Grace. You have a good security team that can take the load while you take a vacation." Jo opened her mouth again. "Don't argue with me, Jo. As medical director, I can order you to take some time off, and that is what I'm doing now. Go away, have some fun, relax. When you come back, you'll be ready to deal with whatever comes."

Jo closed her eyes and sighed. "Thank you, Allison. I've been thinking of getting away." She stood up again and walked through the shield.

"Jo." She turned back around. "I meant what I said about being there for you." Jo nodded and smiled slightly. She headed back to her office, turned off the light, and walked out of GD.


	4. Zane part 1

Zane opened his eyes. He'd been dreaming about Jo, but he could never really remember his dreams. Dreams weren't something a man of science, well, his kind of science, should focus on. Well, other than dreams of being a Nobel Laureate.

He rolled out of bed and stretched. Ow. Full bladder. He shuffled into the bathroom and relieved himself. After flushing, he stepped over to the sink and looked at himself in the mirror. Funny, I don't look any different. Why do I feel so off? He flashed his signature smile, but his reflection showed him how forced it was. Shaking his head, he turned on the faucet and began the morning routine. Face washed, teeth brushed, hair combed… He looked at himself in the mirror again, then opened the top drawer and pulled out his electric razor.

As he walked back into the bedroom, his phone rang. He looked at the display. Zoe. He let it go to voicemail. It was only 8:30; she couldn't expect him to talk now. He opened the closet and looked over his t-shirts. He grabbed the first blue one and pulled it over his head. He looked over at the stack of jeans. Folded on top were the only pair of Bermudas he'd kept when he'd decided that people needed to take him seriously and that he was going to work on being hot enough to melt any woman in his path. Almost any woman. Jo's face flashed before him. He shook his head and pulled on a pair of jeans. He slipped his grandmother's ring into the pocket.

He sat down in front of his computer, but he didn't turn it on. I don't want to go to work today. I'm not ready to see her again. I have to figure out what to do next. He sat still for a minute, then flipped open his cell and called Parrish's voicemail. "Hey, boss. I need to take a personal day." Thank god for GD policy. The most important minds in the world couldn't be allowed to overheat, so time off was plentiful and no questions asked.

He picked up his backpack, took out the laptop, and replaced it with some books from the shelf. His fingers paused at a photo album. He packed that, too. Should he bring the cell? He didn't really want to talk to anyone. But this was Eureka and you never know what kind of crazy experiment would come smashing through your living room wall. He pocketed the phone. Swinging the pack across his shoulders, he snagged his helmet and took off.

He stopped at Café Diem to grab food for the day and took off down the winding forest roads. It felt good to see all the trees whizzing by. No sirens chasing him so he could take his time. But he wanted to put some distance between himself and Eureka so he put on a burst of speed. One of the best things about riding his bike was that it forced him to be in the moment. He needed that now.

An hour later, he was walking up the steps of his other house. GD paid him a ridiculous amount of money, and there were only so many gadgets a guy could buy before he got bored. So he found out who owned the cabin he'd vacationed in as a kid and bought it. He hadn't had the time to set everything up, but right now, that was a good thing. Zane walked through the house, pulling off drop cloths and opening windows. Then he plopped down on the couch and opened up Vince's package. The pancakes were still steaming. He rolled one up around a sausage, dipped it in maple syrup, and stuffed his face. He didn't indulge often these days; he'd worked hard to achieve the physique that turned heads. But, god, this was amazing comfort food.

He finished eating and poured himself a cup of coffee. He sat back and looked around. This place was full of good memories. He could picture his mom and grandmother over in the kitchen, bickering over how much sugar to put in the iced tea. He'd climbed half of the trees out there and spent countless hours swimming in the lake. That was the last summer that he'd been a kid. After that, he was a scientist.

Zane opened up his backpack and pulled out the photo album. He ran his fingers over the embossing. The gold was flaking off. He really should scan these into his computer. He jumped when his cell rang again. Zoe again. He turned the ringer off and flipped open the photo album. He smiled.

When Zane was 4, he'd found his father's old stash in a box up in the attic. He was mesmerized at the pictures and his mom found him hours later, covered in dust, still flipping pages. She'd sat down laughing at the sight. "Oh, Zane, you're just like your father. Let me read some of these to you." And that's when he'd discovered Superman. Zane loved Superman. He had black hair and blue eyes, just like Zane. He begged his mother for a costume. Money was tight, so she bought some iron on patches and made him a costume out of an old blue shirt of his dad's and a red blanket. Zane wore that costume as much as his mom would let him. The shirt billowed as much as the cape did, but he didn't care. He would run around and pretend to fly, saving imaginary cities and fighting bad guys. He didn't much care for Clark Kent, but what kid really liked to be the normal guy? He wanted to fly, and that led to figuring out that science might let him fly one day.

Zane looked at his almost 5 year old self grinning back up at him. One of his front teeth was missing and the shirt was covered in grass stains, but he remembered thinking that he looked just like Superman. He turned the pages, looking at himself pretending to fly, trying to pick up his mom, knocked out cold on the floor, and wearing nothing but Superman Underoos. Farther on was older Zane, still in the cape, but curled up on the couch with a physics textbook. His mom must have bought a bunch of those iron on patches, he thought, looking at how different the shirt in that picture was. That was after Dad left. He looked at pictures of birthdays and Christmases, seeing himself get older on every page. When he was around 11, the Superman costume stopped showing up. And there was his high school graduation. He was only 13. He got by back then by being the class clown and running fast. Else there would have been a ton more wedgies and black eyes. Here he was leaving for MIT.

He closed the album and lay back on the couch. So many times he'd said that MIT was the happiest time of his life, but that was a lie by omission. He was never happier than he was when pretending to be his hero. When did that stop? If he thought about it, he'd been acting more like a villain. Or like Batman, which was almost as bad, he grinned. But he still favored blue shirts.

Maybe that's why Jo got under his skin so badly. If anyone stood for Truth, Justice, and The American Way, it was her. Jo. He closed his eyes and thought about the way she felt in his arms, the way she tasted, how she responded. There was something there between them, it wasn't just her. He'd wanted Jo Lupo the first time he laid eyes on her, but she had nothing but contempt for him. So he sneered back at her and did everything he could to make her squirm. When she became the security chief at GD, it became easier but no less fun to challenge her authority. He still wanted her, but he knew he'd never get her. And then 2 months ago everything had changed. She saved his ass without one snide comment and started giving him the benefit of the doubt. Jo Hardass Lupo was showing a softer side. And he was pretty damn sure that the Jo Lupo who had laughed in his face when he'd asked her for a date a couple of years ago was not the same Jo Lupo who had looked up at him with terrified eyes after she'd kissed him back yesterday.

He wished he had someone to talk to about this. Oh, yeah, that's what friends were for. But Zane Donovan didn't make friends. He had acquaintances and women he'd slept with a few times, but friends tied you down and expected too much from you. He'd been friendlier with Zoe than anyone else in this town, but he couldn't talk to _her_ about this. He got up and walked to the window. For the first time in years, he was lonely. I'm not supposed to be lonely – I'm supposed to be a lone wolf! I amuse myself and nobody gets past the surface. It's better that way. A little voice whispered, _so why are you so unhappy_?

Zane sat back down and opened the album back to the first picture. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring, laying it next to the album. Maybe I don't want to be a lone wolf anymore. He pulled one of the books out of the backpack and opened it to the picture he'd hidden in the back. Carter, Zoe, Henry, Grace, and Jo were sitting together at a table at Café Diem. The picture had been taken right before he had come to town. He'd swiped it off the wall when he was first pursuing her. They were laughing. Jo was sitting in the middle, leaning forward, eyes closed, and grinning hugely. He looked at her for a minute, and then looked at the whole group. Friends, he thought. Huh.

He picked up the ring again, not looking at it, just holding it. I don't know where this is going to take me, but I know what I want, and what I don't want. He looked at younger Zoe ruefully. And that's going to make things more difficult. He looked at Jo. I have to earn her trust. I need to hear the whole story, and she has to trust me before she'll tell me anything. He put the group picture in the album on top of SuperZane. But even I don't trust me.

He sat quietly for a few minutes, then picked up the phone and dialed it. "Hey, Mom? Hey. How are things? Listen, I was wondering, do you still have my cape?"


	5. Jo and Zoe part 1

**Disclaimer**: these characters are not mine, they belong to Eureka. Whose writers will take pity on us all in the second half of the season, I hope.

Zoe Carter was not happy and she didn't care who knew it. In fact, she wanted everyone to know it, especially her dad. He'd arrested Zane, who had ended their date early last night and now wasn't answering his phone. She was tempted to go down to GD and talk to him, but that would seem a bit stalkerish as there was nothing official between them. Yet.

She pulled into a parking spot and composed herself before walking into Café Diem. She glanced around casually. No Zane. She walked up to the counter. "Hey, Vince, what's the latest?"

"Jo was ordered to take time off due to exhaustion. That's one of the stranger things I've heard. The woman hardly ever gets sick!" Vincent swiped the counter emphatically. "Do you know what's going on?"

Zoe wrinkled her brow. Jo was exhausted? "No, sorry. And I am sorry because I've been caught up in, well, you know. I should go and check on her."

Vincent poured her a coffee. "About 'you know', Zoe, I've never been one to poke my nose in anyone else's business, but I'm worried about you." Zoe suppressed a grin. Vince was into _everyone's_ business.

She waved her hand at him. "Never mind about that. I'm heading over to see my dad. Can I have a coffee for him, too?"

Vince added her soy milk and artificial sweetener and made up Carter's usual cream and sugar laced caffeine bomb. "Tell Jo I said hi when you see her."

Zoe nodded, walked out and across the street to the sheriff's office. Her dad looked up when the door opened. "Hey Zo, oh, coffee, you're wonderful." She handed him his cup. He took a sip. "Thank goodness Vincent isn't trying to sneak healthy stuff in anymore." He took a bigger mouthful.

Zoe looked around. "Is Andy here?"

Jack shook his head. "No, he's out on a call."

"Good. I wanted to talk to you alone." She shut the office door. "Dad, I still can't believe you kept Zane in jail that long. You knew he wasn't guilty. Are you trying to ruin this for me?"

"Zoe, please." Jack rubbed his forehead. "I am not now, nor have I ever tried to ruin anything for you."

"He took off early last night and now he's not answering my calls. He's avoiding me, dad! Why do you think that is?"

"Maybe he's tired. Or busy. Look, I don't want to talk about Zane right now."

"Oh, no. We're going to have this out once and for all. I'm a grown woman now, dad. You can't stop me from doing anything anymore. I hate that you're still trying to run my life! You hated Lucas – you were always threatening him and forcing him to leave, now you really hate Zane –"

"Zoe, stop. You're acting like a 16 year old again. I don't hate Zane."

"Okay, then, you hate that_ I'm_ with Zane. And I don't see why – unless you're an ageist. He listens to me, he understands me, he's a perfect gentleman, and he's on my intellectual level." Her father winced at that. "What? What was that? Dad, tell me right now!"

"Zoe…" He leaned away from her and shoved his hands in his pockets

"I mean it Dad!"

"Fine." Jack walked up to her, took her by the shoulders, and looked her directly in the eyes. "You're killing Jo, Zoe. I hate this because you're killing Jo."

"What are you talking about? She hates….him…" Suddenly, the realization of what he meant smacked her between the eyes. Jo had been avoiding her. She was pale and had big circles under her eyes because she couldn't sleep. "Oh my god. How long?" She sat down and looked up at her father.

"Longer than you realize." Carter picked up his coffee and took a long drink.

"What do you mean?"

"Look, sweetheart, there are some things that I can't tell you, and this is part of one of them. I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I am going to ask you, whatever you do, to think about Jo." He walked back around to his chair and sat down.

"Vince said she'd been ordered to take some vacation time."

"Yes, Allison told her to take some time off and get out of town for a while. A change of scenery might help her cope with things better."

"Has she said where she's going?"

"Noooo, she just left GD about 30 minutes ago." Carter cocked his head at his daughter." Zoe, what are you going to do?"

"Me? I'm going to apologize to my big sister about a million times for stepping all over her heart." Zoe got up. "Do you need me for the next few days?" He shook his head. "Good. I'll call you and let you know what I'm doing."

Zoe sat down in her car without turning on the ignition and thought about the last few weeks. Jo had been so happy to see her when she came home. They had made all sorts of plans, but since Zoe had been cured from her petrification, Jo had cancelled almost everything. And Zoe had cancelled the rest in order to spend time with Zane. She opened the door and walked back into Café Diem. She was going to need brownies.

*.*

"What the hell am I going to do?" Jo Lupo sat in front of her computer looking at travel sites. She hadn't been out of Eureka in years and nothing appealed to her. Every place was either advertised as a honeymoon paradise or a love nest. Nothing was hitting her as a place for someone to forget about their troubles, except Vegas. And she really wasn't into that.

Maybe I could just stay home, she thought. I could barricade myself in here and have Vince deliver food to me every day. I could veg out and watch reality television until my brain melts out of my ears. She sighed, leaned back in her chair, and stared up at the ceiling for a while.

The doorbell rang. Oh boy, she thought, here comes an emergency to keep me here after all. She opened the door. Zoe Carter stood on her porch, holding out a box. "Brownies for the banished?" she asked.

Jo laughed and stepped out of the way so Zoe could come in. "Vincent told you."

"Yep."

"Someone should clue him in that being the town gossip isn't a good thing." Jo opened the box and picked up a huge mound of chocolate. "Wow, he must think I'm really depressed." She took a bite and offered the box to Zoe.

Zoe pulled out a similarly huge brownie, broke off a corner, and tossed it into her mouth. "He said exhausted. And that you needed a change of scenery."

"I'm looking, but I can't find any greener grass." Jo nodded at the computer.

"I have a proposition for you," Zoe said. "Why don't we take a road trip, just the two of us?"

Jo looked at her. "To where?"

"San Francisco. We could take turns driving, stop somewhere tonight, and get there tomorrow. I hear they have all kinds of good food, good art, good music…" She looked up at Jo with puppy eyes. "Please? I'm feeling the need to get out of town, too, and we haven't had any time together in ages."

Jo looked down at her brownie. "Don't you have… plans?"

"Nope." Zoe took another bite, chewed, and swallowed. "Besides, it's getting kind of crowded at home, what with Allison and Andy over there all the time."

Jo looked at the girl she considered to be her little sister and smiled. "Okay. But I want to get out of here pronto."

"Fine by me." Zoe stood up and grabbed a napkin out of the box to hold her brownie. I'll be ready in 30 minutes. Come and get me when you're ready to go." She turned back at the door and grinned at Jo. "This is going to be so much fun!"

Jo shook her head after the door closed. "I certainly hope so." She got up to pack.

*.*

Zoe walked into the house. "Hi, S.A.R.A.H.!" She tossed her purse on the counter and walked over to her room.

"Hello, Zoe. You're home early." No matter how many times she heard it, S.A.R.A.H.'s voice – well, Fargo speaking in an effeminate tone – was funny. Zoe grinned.

"Not for long. Jo and I are going on a road trip."

"A road trip? How delightful! Does your father know?"

"Yeah, I called him on the way here." Zoe pulled down her suitcase and started packing. "Do you know where my mp3 player is?"

"In the kitchen. What about Mr. Donovan? Does he know about the trip?"

"No, but I'm sure he will soon." S.A.R.A.H. talked to Vincent all the time and the two of them spread gossip like no one's business.

"Are you having problems with your relationship? I've been downloading reference material on how to keep your man and I'd be more than happy to share."

"We don't really have a relationship, S.A.R.A.H., and it's pretty unlikely that we ever will." Zoe grabbed a bag to put her shoes in.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Zoe. Do you need comfort food? I can make you ice cream."

"No, S.A.R.A.H., I'm not upset. I'm glad that I didn't make any huge mistakes." Like kissing Zane in front of Jo. Or at all. She'd wanted to, but he'd always dodged her. Zoe stopped packing. He'd never kissed her. She'd seen him staring at Jo a few times. And yesterday, he'd watched Jo leave. Did that mean…."That idiot," she muttered, "I am so going to kick his ass." She walked over to the bathroom and grabbed her toiletries bag.

"Who?" S.A.R.A.H. asked.

"Nobody. I'm just talking to myself." She grabbed her cell phone charger and tossed it in the suitcase. She closed it, thought for a minute, and opened it again. She walked over to the cabinet in the living room and opened it. She scanned the titles and grabbed three movies. These will soften her up, she thought. Zoe tossed them in the suitcase and zipped it back up.

"Jo is outside," S.A.R.A.H. said.

"Okay." She grabbed her suitcase and headed for the door. "Have a good weekend!"

"You, too, Zoe," the house replied. Zoe took the stairs two at a time and opened the blast door. Jo was out of the car with the trunk open. Zoe tossed the suitcase in and Jo shut the trunk. She leaned against it for a minute.

"Zo, I want to ask you a favor." Zoe raised her eyebrows. "Can we… not talk about Zane?"

Damn, Zoe thought. Jo was looking at the ground. Zoe said, "How about we not talk about him while we're driving and then we'll see."

Jo nodded. "Okay." She walked around to the driver's side. "I'll take the first turn." Zoe climbed into the passenger seat and plugged in her mp3 player. She scrolled to the playlist she wanted and chose the first song. Jo turned on the car and laughter floated out of the speakers.

_Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want!_

Jo looked amusedly over at Zoe. "The Spice Girls?"

Zoe grinned back. "You know you love it. Walkin' On Sunshine is next."


	6. Zane part 2

Zane sat on the couch in the lamp lit living room in his cabin. He'd spent the morning trying to read, but he just couldn't concentrate. So he'd gone out to the lake and sat out there until the sun set, throwing stones and watching the ripples cascade. There's just something so beautiful about physics, he thought. Force, motion, gravity, inertia; nothing could exist without these things. Physics explained so many of the "whys" of the universe. Not people, though, which was one of the reasons why he had such a hard time relating. People were messy, unpredictable. Not like physics or computers. And people hurt you.

Zane still couldn't fathom why Jo's turning him down had affected him differently than any other woman. Sure, he'd been shot down before, but that had felt more like a failure. He'd been so sure she was interested in him. He shook his head. That didn't matter anymore. Everything was different now.

He must have fallen asleep, because the buzzing of his phone on the table woke him up with a jolt. It was a text from Zoe. Time to get it over with, he thought, and hit the button to see what she'd said.

-I just wanted to tell you that I think we should stay in the friend zone.

Zane didn't know whether to feel shocked, relieved, or insulted. Still, this cut through one of the many Gordian Knots he was facing. He texted her back:

-Yeah. I'm sorry, Zo.

He waited for her reply.

-No worries. See you later.

Huh. He had been afraid that things were going to go so much worse, at least some crying on her end. But Zoe was smarter and more sensible than your average bear. Maybe he could salvage something out of it and continue to have an actual friendship with her.

Zane got up and started replacing drop cloths. It wasn't that late – maybe if he headed home and dropped by Café Diem, Jo would be there and he could see her, maybe even talk to her. He turned out the light, locked the door, and walked in the moonlight out to his bike. He started her up and drove off through the trees.

Like New York, Eureka never really slept. GD had experiments and projects running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so people had all sorts of crazy schedules. Café Diem was pretty much the only eatery in town, so Vincent decided to stay open 24 hours and requested an AI to run the place while he was off; he was so particular about the way his place was run, he didn't trust anyone to do it correctly but himself. So Virtual Vincent was born, or designed, if you will.

Zane parked his bike and walked towards Café Diem, helmet in hand. Dr. Parrish was walking out. "Hey, Donovan, you should have come in today. We had a stress free working environment," he smirked.

Zane grinned. "What happened? Did Fargo take a vacation?"

"Nope, Lupo did. Dr. Blake ordered her to take a week or two off and get out of town. Now we can get some work done without Fargo's pet enforcer looking over our shoulders." Zane's jaw dropped. "I know, incredible, right?" Parrish walked off, calling over his shoulder, "we can get to work fixing the mood modulator on Monday without her kicking the door in every few minutes to check on us."

Zane stood in the doorway for a minute, stunned. Jo had been ordered to take a vacation? Now? This had to be the worst timing in the history of timing. He pulled open the door and walked over to Virtual Vincent. "Hey double V; I just heard the news about Lupo. What's the deal?"

Before the robot could open his mouth, a voice from one of the tables behind Zane said, "She's exhausted." He turned around to see Henry's wife sitting at a table, surrounded by papers. Still looking over her work, she continued speaking, "not that it's any of your business." She looked up and smiled at him.

Zane walked over to her table. "Dr Monroe," he began.

"Grace," she said.

"Okay, Grace, mind if I sit with you?" She indicated the chair across from her and he sat down.

Virtual Vincent walked over to the table. "Can I get you anything?"

Grace shook her head. Zane said, "I'll take a turkey sandwich on wheat and a cherry coke." Vince nodded and walked behind the counter.

Zane sat silently watching Grace shuffle through her papers. Vince walked back over and placed his order in front of him. "Bon appétit," the android said. Zane picked up his glass and took a sip of his soda.

"So," said Grace, still looking through her papers, "what do you need to unburden?"

"What?"

"You want to talk to me about your personal issues. I know you do, I have the kind of face that makes people want to tell me things." She began collecting the papers into a stack. "Is it about Jo?"

"Ye-no." She shot him a look. "Okay, yes. But not all about Jo."

"Is it about Zoe, too?"

"Surprisingly, no. Zoe is not an issue, at least not anymore." He pulled the crusts off of his sandwich. "Grace, how…. How do you become friends with someone? I mean, especially if they're not inclined to trust you due to past history?"

Grace looked at Zane. She'd never seen him so unsure of himself. She knew, from sharing memories with Henry, why Jo was so unhappy. So now she knew Zane was feeling the same way. She said slowly, "well, it depends on how much history and how bad it was. You're very charming, Zane, but you wear that like a mask. If you want people to really like you, you have to let them see you at your worst. Not only that, you have to let them see you as you really are. And you have to like them, too. I'm not trying to be mean, Zane –"

"I'm not looking for nice. I need honest right now."

"Good. I don't have to advise you to be careful who you choose to befriend, do I?"

"No." He finally picked up his sandwich and took a bite. He chewed it thoughtfully, swallowed, and said, "You know what is going on with everyone, don't you."

"Maybe," she replied cautiously.

"I mean the situation that involves some of your best friends and your husband." He held up his hands at her look. "That came out wrong. Look, I know that something happened and it has all of you scared. I just want you to know that you don't have anything to worry about from me. In fact, I'll do whatever I can to help protect you. If you need me to."

Grace gave Zane a long, measured look. "Thank you. I'll remember that."

"Oh, damn. I didn't mean –"

"Zane. It's fine. I understand what you meant." Grace pushed her chair back and stood up. "Good luck with making friends. Let me know how you do." As she walked by him, she whispered in Zane's ear, "She went to San Francisco with Zoe."

"What!" Did that explain the text? This could be very, very bad.


	7. Jo and Zoe part 2

Five hours and three repeats of Sweet Caroline later, they pulled into the hotel where Zoe had booked a room. Jo was tired, but spending time with Zoe had been good for her. They'd talked about a whole lot of nothing almost the whole drive (when they weren't singing) and Jo had laughed a lot. The bellman took their bags and they followed him to the elevator after checking in. He led them to their room and opened the door.

It was more of a suite than a room, really. Two comfortable looking beds covered in white linens, a flat screen tv on the dresser, a small sitting area, and a computer desk occupied the large space. Jo tipped the bellman while Zoe bounced on the first bed. "How are you paying for this, Zoe?" Jo asked after the door closed.

"My mom sends me a big check every month. There's not a whole lot to spend it on out in Cambridge, so my bank account runneth over." Zoe grinned and grabbed her suitcase. "I have a surprise for you!" She unzipped the top and pulled out three DVDs. "We have Up, Beauty and the Beast, and your all time favorite, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. What do you say we order room service and veg out in front of the tv until we fall asleep?"

"Sounds good to me. But I get to pick first."

"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang it is!" Zoe opened the case and popped in the movie while Jo took off her shoes. The title screen came up and Jo was enthralled immediately. Zoe grabbed the phone and called room service for a veggie pizza and a couple of sodas. She hung up the phone and sat on her bed, watching her friend's face as she watched the movie. Jo was so stoic most of the time, but when she was watching a children's movie, she was an open book.

The pizza came during the scene where the car was trapped by the tide. She put a slice on a plate and handed it to Jo, who took it and started eating without even looking away from the screen. Zoe relaxed and ate, waiting for the scene that would make Jo cry like it always did.

I love this movie so much, Jo thought, as the king and queen sang to one another while he tried to kill her. This is just what I needed. She sat up. Here came her favorite scene. The toymaker brought in two boxes and opened one to reveal Truly pretending to be a life sized doll on a music box. The song began:

_What do you see?_

_You people gazing at me_

_You see a doll on a music box that's wound by a key_

_How can you tell_

_I'm under a spell_

_I'm waiting for love's first kiss_

_You cannot see_

_How much I long to be free_

_Turning around on this music box that's wound by a key_

_Yearning, yearning_

_While I'm turning around and around…_

Jo burst into tears. Zoe paused the movie, jumped off her bed, and wrapped her arms around her friend. Jo tried to get herself back under control, but she just kept breaking down again. So she let herself cry out all the tears she'd been keeping in over the last few months. Zoe hugged her and patted her back until she'd cried herself out. She handed Jo the box of tissues from the nightstand.

"So, are you ready to actually talk?"Zoe asked. Jo looked at her. "You could have told me."

Jo looked away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm talking about Zane, Jo. How long have you been in love with him?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Zoe." Jo's bottom lip trembled.

"Jo." Zoe folded her arms. "You don't need to lie to me. I pay attention, especially after I've been hit in the head a few times. I get that from my dad."

Jo smiled in spite of herself. "A Carter family trait, huh?" She sighed. "It's complicated, Zoe."

"Why? It doesn't have to be. I know, the town will be buzzing with gossip for a while, but they'll get used to seeing the two of you together."

"You say that like it might actually happen."

"Why not? You're a bipedal hominid; he's a bipedal hominid..." Jo chuckled in spite of herself. "No, really. The two of you have more in common than you think."

"Life in prison, or death, for one example." Jo sighed.

"What are you _talking_ about?"

Jo looked at Zoe. She had more to lose than any of the five of them – six if you counted Grace - she'd lose her complete support structure if they were caught. She took a breath. "Give me my soda. This is going to take a while." She closed her eyes. "Back on Founder's day, your dad, Henry, Allison, Fargo, and I had an accident. We traveled back in time to 1947.

"I was in the sheriff's office, and then I was in a men's barracks. I freaked out and fought my way out of there. I hopped on a motorcycle, and the next thing I knew, I was being chased by MP's. I skidded out on the bike and tried to fight my way out again, but there were too many. They threw me in jail and Fargo was there…. Naked."

Zoe burst out laughing. "Naked Fargo? Oh my god! That's the best thing ever! So you saw little Fargo?"

"What? No! He was wearing a blanket and I did everything I could NOT to look!"

"Are you sure? It was you and him all alone in a tense situation and he was… naked." Zoe rolled over on her side, giggling. Jo chucked a pillow at her.

"ANYWAY, we got back, but we accidentally brought someone back with us. And that changed… a lot of stuff."

"Like what?"

"Well, before the change, I was your dad's deputy still and there was no Andy. Henry hadn't ever met Grace. Allison was the head of GD and Fargo was her assistant. Your dad had broken up with Tess a bit ago, and… Zane."

"You two were together?" Jo nodded. "How serious was it?"

Jo looked at Zoe. She took another deep breath. "He proposed. Ten minutes before the time jump."

"So you were engaged?"

"No. I froze up and he walked out before I could get my brain working again." Jo closed her eyes.

Sensing her friend needed a break, Zoe asked, "So who did you bring back with you?"

"His name was Trevor –"

"Grant? Dr. Trevor Grant? That's one of the biggest mysteries of all time and you were responsible? That's crazy!" Zoe marveled that the history that had been hammered into her head at Tesla had been walking around among them. "So where is he now?"

"Gone. Carter and he decided that it was too dangerous for us if he stayed around. People would find out about what happened and that would be very bad."

"Wait, why? Wouldn't it be easier if you could explain to everyone what had happened, that way you didn't have to pretend you knew what was going on until someone gave you more information.

Jo shook her head. "Allison, Henry, and Fargo said that time travel is outlawed and GD has protocols in place for anyone who breaks that law. As in lifetime prison sentences at best. Henry took a really big risk when he told Grace, and I'm taking a huge risk telling you. Not that I don't trust you, but anyone who knows about someone who broke the law and didn't turn them in can be charged as an accessory."

Zoe sat and thought for a few minutes. "You know, I don't think anyone we know would turn you in."

"What about the people we don't know? What about the hundreds of ambitious scientists we have a GD who hate Fargo and would take any opportunity to stab him in the back? They wouldn't hesitate to take the rest of us down."

"Well, Fargo is a jerk." Zoe shrugged.

"Not this one… well, yeah, he kind of is a jerk. But a different kind of jerk. He's trying very hard to become a leader, and I think he's made some decent strides. Just don't tell him I said that." Jo smirked.

Zoe said softly, "I can think of one ambitious scientist that won't turn you in."

Jo shook her head. "How can you be sure?"

"Would your Zane do it?"

"No, of course not. But that's because I had almost two years to work on him, and he liked keeping secrets and breaking the law every once in a while." Jo smiled.

"Well, I know this Zane." She pointed a finger at Jo. "Don't laugh. I'm purported to be a very good judge of character."

"I hope so," Jo muttered.

"Uh oh. What happened?"

"When Zane, my Zane, proposed, he gave me his grandmother's engagement ring."

"Wow."

"Yeah. And it came with me. When I got back to 2010, I ran back to the sheriff's office to see if Zane was there. And he was – so I told him I'd marry him." Jo took a breath. "He laughed in my face."

"Okay, well, that's not so bad –"

"It gets worse." Jo sipped her soda. "At Henry's barbeque, we all got zapped by a device that made us hallucinate. And I saw Zane. My Zane. Except it wasn't really like him, it was a weirdly warped version that followed me around like a puppy. Grace told us that our hallucinations were our subconscious telling us we had something to deal with and they would probably go away once that had happened. So I told mine that I had romanticized our relationship, that we didn't fit, and I threw the ring at him. But it wasn't a hallucination, it was this Zane. And he recognized the ring. Now he won't stop trying to get me to tell him why I had it and I'm pretty sure he knows already." Jo took another drink. "He saw through Grant in a second and he could tell that Allison and Fargo were acting differently."

"So is that what you were talking about when I walked in yesterday? He was trying to get you to explain?"

"Yeah." Jo swallowed hard, trying to force the memory of the kiss to go away.

Zoe pushed the pizza box to the side and lay back on her bed. She had almost made a serious mistake that would have cost her one of her best friends. Zane was ridiculously hot and she liked him very much, but Jo was more important to her than any fling. She rolled over and looked at her big sister. "I'm so sorry, Jo. If I had known, I never would have gone there. Sisters don't steal each other's guys."

Jo raised an eyebrow. "Yes they do. All the time."

Zoe sighed. "Okay then, people who have chosen to be sisters rather than by accident of birth don't steal each other's guys." She smiled at Jo. "So now we have to figure out how to get you guys together."

"What? Zoe, that would be a terrible idea! And a huge red flag to anyone who suspects that something is wrong."

"I don't think so. The two of you have always had a kind of Sam and Diane vibe."

Jo shook her head, smiling. "You're too young to be making Cheers references."

"I watched a lot of reruns as a kid. But really, a year ago Vincent was taking bets on how long it would be before the two of you would kill each other or get together."

"Seriously? Remind me to go down there and threaten that man's life when we get home."

Zoe laughed. "The whole town would protect him just for the coffee. But I mean it, Jo, I think that there's something there on his side, too. It will take some work, but I think we could do it."

Jo folded her arms. "Ok, relationship guru, just for the sake of asking, what would you do?"

"Honestly? The complete opposite of what I was doing. Play hard to get. If there's anything Zane Donovan can't resist, it's a challenge." She smiled ruefully. "Pilar cornered me and told me stories of women who had thrown themselves at Zane and had gotten nowhere. I see now that she was trying to help, but I wasn't interested in listening. I owe her an apology, too. Anyway. Make him chase you for a while. It will drive him crazy and you'll get some much needed wooing." She rolled back over. "Don't be stubborn about this, Jo. You deserve to be happy."

Jo sat silent. The idea of Zane pursuing her was very appealing. She didn't know if she could hold out to play hard to get, as Zoe said, but she smiled at the idea of their roles being reversed – he'd be shooting her sidelong glances and watching her walk away, completely confused and dying to follow her.

She looked over at Zoe. I have to tell her about the kiss, she thought. I don't want to hurt her, but she deserves to know. "Zoe, about yesterday… Something else happened between me and Zane." She cleared her throat. "When he confronted me about the ring, I refused to tell him anything. So he kissed me. And I, I kissed him back." Zoe's face was blank, so she went on. "When he let me go, I could tell that it was just an experiment to get me to confirm his suspicions. I felt so horrible when you walked in that I couldn't look at you. I'm so sorry, Zoe." Jo's voice broke as she fought back tears.

Zoe sat up. "Huh. I figured something like that had happened. Once I put two and two together, that is. Zane was so preoccupied and he took off pretty quickly." She shook her head. "Jo, don't beat yourself up over it. Maybe we'll beat him up once this is all over. But you have nothing to be sorry for. He kissed you and you reacted."

"Zoe, are you sure? 'Cause I can always throw myself off the balcony. I kind of want to – it would be a relief to feel a different kind of pain."

"Don't be ridiculous." Zoe stood up and shook a finger in Jo's face. "If you really want to make it up to me, you can drive the rest of the way to San Francisco. And let me pick the first tourist trap to visit." She leaned over and hugged her friend.

"Yes, ma'am." Jo hugged her back. "I guess if I should be driving, I should get some sleep. And in order to do that, I need to relax. Did I see a whirlpool tub in that bathroom?"

"You most certainly did. Go for it." Zoe smiled.

Jo stood up and grabbed the robe that was hanging in the closet. She shut the door behind her, turned on the water, and reached for the bubble bath. When the tub was full, she undressed quickly and sank into the hot water, sighing with pleasure.

As soon as Zoe heard the water running, she reached for her phone and shot off a text to S.A.R.A.H., telling the house to let her dad know they were safe at a hotel for the night. She opened her text history and scrolled through her conversations with Zane. They were a bit flirty, but she could tell now that he was only flirting, nothing serious. She started typing:

I just wanted to tell you that I think we should stay in the friend zone.

A few seconds later came the reply:

Yeah. I'm sorry, Zo.

She sent back:

No worries. See you later.


	8. Zane's Dream

**AN:** This story is being told in three parts. It continues in Road Trip and What Now?

Zane was dreaming. He'd always been able to tell the difference between dreams and reality, perhaps because he didn't dream vividly very often. He was in the sheriff's office and Jo was standing in front of him. He took a step towards her and she stepped back, pushing Zoe in front of her. He stepped around Zoe and faced Jo again. She pushed another Zoe in front of her. Zane looked back and the first Zoe was still standing there, looking and acting doll-like.

He stepped around the second Zoe and Jo brought out a third, then a fourth, a fifth, and so on until the room was full of Zoes and he couldn't see Jo anymore. "Jo-Jo!" he called. "I don't want her. I want you!"

He heard her answer faintly. "I don't believe you!" Exasperated, he pushed the Zoe doll nearest to him over. She toppled into another and that set of a Zoe-domino chain reaction. Zoes were falling over everywhere, raising a huge cloud of dust. He coughed and waved a hand in front of his eyes. The dust rose higher.

He was in his lab at GD. Jo was standing in front of him, talking earnestly but he couldn't make out a word. He shook his head, trying to indicate that he couldn't understand. This caused her eyes to fill with tears and she turned and walked to the other side of the room. "What is wrong with you?" Zane looked around. There stood another Zane, wearing a Superman shirt and a cape. "Go after her and tell her that you love her!"

"She won't believe me," Zane told himself.

"She believed me when I was you and I told her I loved her." SuperZane raised an eyebrow. "I was almost as bad as you are and she believed me."

"Oh, great, so not only do I have to worry about her comparing me to my other self, I'm doing it, too?"

"Stop giving in to fear and do it already. Heroes do what's right even when they're scared, remember?" SuperZane flashed a smile, raised his right arm and took off flying.

"Wonderful," Zane muttered. He stepped forward and the scene changed again. He was in Jo's office and she had just thrown his grandmother's ring at him. He looked at it, then at her. She was frozen, eyes sadder than he'd ever seen. If this dream echoed reality, Carter was about to drag him away. He turned, shut the door, and locked it. He crossed the distance between them, took Jo in his arms, and kissed her gently. "I love you, Jo. I will never, ever hurt you ever again." He kissed her again. She started to respond, just like before, and then Carter was there handcuffing him and pulling him away. Zane walked backwards, keeping his eyes on Jo's face until he couldn't see her anymore. The lines of pain around her eyes were gone, he thought to himself.

Zane clawed his way out of the dream and woke himself up. What the hell was that all about? He didn't believe that dreams had meaning, but his subconscious was definitely screaming as loud as it could to get his attention.

He yawned and tried to settle back down to sleep. When she comes home, he thought, we're going to have to deal with this once and for all.


	9. Jo and Zoe part 3

Jo opened her eyes, feeling like she'd had a good night's sleep for the first time since Founder's Day. No dreams, she thought, vaguely disappointed. You need sleep more than you need to be tortured by your imagination, she told herself sternly as she sat up in bed.

The door beeped. She looked up to see Zoe banging it open, tray in hands. "Morning, sunshine! I come bearing breakfast goodness!"

"Zoe, why are you bounding around like a golden retriever so early in the morning?"

"Another Carter family trait, I guess." She grinned and put the tray down on the foot of Jo's bed. "We have cinnamon rolls, muffins, doughnuts, and bacon."

"All four food groups." Jo leaned over and snagged a piece of bacon and a doughnut. She took a bite of each. "Not as good as Vincent's, but pretty good."

Zoe tore apart a cinnamon roll. "Jo, I have to warn you, nothing will be as good as it is at Vincent's." She licked frosting off of her fingers. "I want to get going soon. Is that cool?"

Jo nodded, her mouth full. She swallowed. "Where do you want to go for the first touristy stop?"

"Where else? The Golden Gate Bridge. Don't worry, we can visit Alcatraz, too."

"You know me so well." They ate in silence for a few minutes. Jo noticed Zoe giving her sidelong glances. "What?"

"I was wondering… since we cleared the air last night, does the no talking about Zane rule still apply?" As if on cue, Zoe's phone buzzed. "His ears must be burning," she said, looking at the display. "Ha! Someone told him we took off together. I wonder how bad he's squirming right now."

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about him." Jo said uncomfortably.

"Oh! Jo, I'm sorry." Zoe said, putting the phone down. "I didn't mean that the way it came out."

I wonder, Jo thought. She asked "Are you going to answer him?"

"Later. I need to call my dad since I didn't talk to him last night. You want to get ready to go?" Jo nodded and started cleaning up the remains of breakfast. Zoe dialed her father.

"Hey, Zoe," her father answered.

"Hi, Dad. S.A.R.A.H. gave you my message, right?"

"Yep. How's the trip going?"

"Good. Jo and I spent some time talking and I got her to open up to me about a few things."

"Like what?"

"Like Zane and their history, for one thing. Don't worry, I'm fine. I told him yesterday that there wasn't anything between us. We don't have all that much in common anyway – not enough that it would be worth making Jo crazy."

Her dad was quiet for a minute. "Um, Zoe, can I speak to Jo?"

"Sure. Hey, Jo, Dad wants to talk to you." She handed Jo the phone.

"Hey Carter."

"Jo, are you crazy? Didn't we talk about this? About not talking about this?"

"Carter, I couldn't help it. She made me watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." Zoe grinned at her. "I couldn't talk my way out of it."

Carter sighed. "Are you feeling any better? Allison said you looked like death yesterday."

Jo rolled her eyes. "Thank her for the compliment. Yes, I am feeling a bit better. I guess I needed this. You want to talk to Zoe again?"

"Yes, please."

Jo handed the phone back to Zoe. "I'm going to pack up the bathroom." She walked in and shut the door behind her. She picked up her brush and started on her hair.

"So," Zoe said to her father.

"Zoe, I don't need to tell you how important it is for you to be careful about this."

"No, Jo made that pretty clear last night. Listen, Dad, I want to help her fix this."

"Zoe, we can't go back. Things need to stay as they are."

"That's not what I meant. I want to help her with Zane. And I don't think it will take much for the two of them to resolve things."

Her dad snorted, "Come on, Zo, from what I hear, you can't pin him down with a spear. Um, I mean, he has commitment issues…"

"No, he doesn't. Trust me, Dad."

He sighed. "Okay, Zoe. How long do you think you'll be gone?"

"We'll probably be back in town by the end of the week. I can't see her wanting to be gone much longer than that." Zoe finished repacking her belongings and zipped up the suitcase. "And Dad, we have a lot to talk about when I get back." She hung up the phone. Jo was still in the bathroom. She looked at Zane's text:

-How's the road trip to San Fran with Jo?

She grinned and sent back:

-Good. We're talking a lot. Getting a lot of stuff out in the open. Bonding, you know.

Let him chew on that for a while. She wasn't exactly angry with him, but she thought that he deserved to sweat just a little bit for kissing Jo like that.

Jo came out of the bathroom. "All yours, Zo."

"Oh, good. I really need to brush my teeth." The bathroom door closed behind Zoe. Jo sat down to put on her shoes. Zoe's phone sat on the nightstand. She wondered if there were pictures of Zane in there. There probably were. Jo looked at the bathroom door, and then picked up the phone. It wouldn't hurt just to look… no, that was an invasion of privacy. She laid the phone down and as soon as it touched the dresser, it rang. Jo almost jumped out of her skin. Zane's face flashed on the screen. He was smiling, eyes half closed.

"Who is it, Jo?" Zoe yelled from the bathroom.

"It's Zane." Jo called back. Zoe opened the door, toothbrush in hand.

She grinned. "Answer it."

"What?" The phone rang again.

"Answer it. You know you want to." Zoe shut the door.

Jo touched the answer button and lifted the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Jo?" Zane's voice. She had missed it.

"Yeah. Zoe asked me to answer her phone – she's busy."

"Oh. I mean, good, I wanted to talk to you." He sounded nervous.

She closed her eyes. Play hard to get. "What about?" she asked.

"About us. And Zoe. You know that there's nothing between me and Zoe, right? She said she'd talked to you."

"Zane, there is no 'us.'"

"But there could be." Jo sat frozen. Why did this always happen to her? She felt like her tongue filled her whole mouth. "Jo? Don't you think there could be? I know you're still there, I can hear you breathing."

"Zane, I-" She looked up. Zoe was standing in the doorway, watching her and nodding.

"Jo. I'm not going to push, but please tell me I at least have a chance."

Jo raised an eyebrow at Zoe, who held her hand up with her thumb and forefinger half an inch apart. "You have a chance. A small one."

"That's all I need." Zane sounded relieved.

"If you get cocky, the chance gets smaller." Zoe was signaling her to end the call. "I have to go, Zane."

"Can we talk later?"

"Okay. Goodbye."

"Bye, Jo-Jo." Before she could say anything else, he hung up. Her heart was pounding again; she started taking deep breaths to slow it down.

Zoe plopped down next to her. "You did great! Leave him wanting more."

"How did you know what he was saying?"

Zoe pointed to her ear. "Mini Bluetooth. I picked it up in town before we left. It automatically activates when you hit the answer button."

"Huh. Maybe next time I should talk to him on _my_ phone."

Zoe laughed. "Jo, I wouldn't eavesdrop on anything that would embarrass you. Besides, he doesn't have your phone number." She picked up her purse. "Ready?" Jo handed over the phone and picked up her bags.


	10. Zane part 3

I'm so tired, Zane thought. He'd had a hard time getting back to sleep after the dream his subconscious had decided to dump on him. He finished off his cup of coffee and poured himself a second one, trying to concentrate on the project he'd been working on for the last few months. He picked up the tablet and looked at the schematics again. His mind was a complete blank. He put the tablet down and rubbed his eyes.

So Jo and Zoe were on a road trip. They'd been friends for years. Grace had said that Jo was exhausted and who better to help her get over that than one of her best friends? Carter was busy canoodling with Allison, so he couldn't spend time with her. And Grace and Henry were perpetually joined at the hip; except for last night, which was weird, but he could figure that out later. Zoe was free to whisk her off for a vacation. That was a horrible thing for him, according to every movie he'd ever seen. The ex and the current girl talked about the guy in question and that ruined everything. But Zoe wasn't really an ex; they'd never really been anything more than friends. And Jo wasn't anything yet, no matter what he hoped.

He was just going to have to bite the bullet and text Zoe.

-How's the road trip to San Fran with Jo?

He hit send and waited for a reply. And waited. Maybe she wasn't up yet. She couldn't be angry with him; she'd been the one to broach the friendship subject. Wait, what if Jo told her about the kiss? Oh, god, this is turning out to be like the movies. Zane put down the phone and picked up his coffee. He spun around in his chair. It didn't matter, he thought, if he had to dig himself out of a bigger hole, he'd do it.

He got up out of his chair and roamed around his living room. He opened the cabinet under his television and picked up a video game controller. Maybe a shoot-em-up, strategy game would take his mind off of things. He flipped through the titles, trying to find the one that would absorb him the most. He picked one; something futuristic looking that he'd never opened and put it in the player. He sat down on the couch, picked up the remote, and his phone buzzed. He jumped over the couch and snatched it up off the table.

-Good. We're talking a lot. Getting a lot of stuff out in the open. Bonding, you know.

They talked about it. Zane thought about banging his head on his desk, but that wouldn't help anything. Okay. How bad was it? He needed to know and there was only one way to find out. He hit the button to call Zoe. The phone rang. And rang. And rang. They were mad. He should just –

"Hello?" Jo's voice floated into his ear.

"Jo?"

"Yeah. Zoe asked me to answer her phone – she's busy."

"Oh. I mean, good, I wanted to talk to you." He hoped he didn't sound as nervous as he felt.

Silence. "What about?" she asked.

"About us. And Zoe." Oh god, the words were spilling out like verbal diarrhea. "You know that there's nothing between me and Zoe, right? She said she'd talked to you."

"Zane, there is no 'us.'"

"But there could be." Silence again. Was he making things even worse? He had to keep going; if he didn't, he'd lose his nerve. "Jo? Don't you think there could be? I know you're still there, I can hear you breathing."

"Zane, I-" she stopped, sounding unsure.

"Jo. I'm not going to push, but please tell me I at least have a chance."

"You have a chance. A small one." Now she sounded relieved. He felt light headed as the fear dissolved from his body.

"That's all I need."

"If you get cocky, the chance gets smaller. I have to go, Zane."

Damn. "Can we talk later?"

"Okay. Goodbye."

"Bye, Jo-Jo." He hung up and smacked himself in the forehead. She hated that nickname. That was probably the worst thing he could have said. Still, she'd said he had a chance and he was going to focus on that. He tossed the controller back into the cabinet. He was too keyed up to play right now. He needed to talk to someone about Jo, but who? He thought for a minute, and then grabbed his keys and the tablet.

A few minutes later, he was knocking on the door to Henry's garage. He opened it and stuck his head in. "Henry? You in here?"

"Over here!" Henry's voice echoed out from underneath something. Zane walked in, looked around, and saw Henry's legs hanging out from under Carter's Jeep.

"Oh man, not again!" Zane laughed. "Carter just needs to get a new car – that one just attracts destruction."

Henry rolled out, grinning. "I've tried to tell him that a hundred times. Jack is just stuck in his ways." He stood up. "What can I do for you, Zane?"

Zane handed over the tablet. "I've been looking for a way to increase the efficiency without removing any of the equipment, but I'm stuck. You're the master, so I figured I'd ask you to take a look at it."

Henry raised an eyebrow. Zane shrugged, trying not to look like he was trying to be innocent. "I thought you were the master, Zane. Are you preoccupied with something?"

"You could say that. But really, Henry, I'd be grateful for your input on this."

Henry looked at Zane again. Grace had told him about the conversation she'd had with Zane last night. He seemed to be sincere. He looked down at the tablet, flipping the schematics with his finger. He sat down; indicating Zane should pull up a stool and sit with him.

Zane watched Henry as he looked over Zane's project. He'd never spent any time around the older man, but for some reason, he felt very comfortable sitting here with him in his garage. Henry radiated peace and happiness. And he was a genius, even compared to the rest of Eureka.

Henry handed the tablet back to Zane. "Here," he pointed at a section of wiring. "Replace it with a higher conducting material and it should increase it by 10 percent."

Zane zoomed in to the offending section, shaking his head. "I must be really off my game. Thank you, Henry."

"So, was there anything else?"

"Yes." He took a deep breath. "Theoretically, if a person was able to travel in time and changed things so that they came back to a different present, would that mean there were two realities and there was a possible jumping back point?" He looked at Henry. "I mean, theoretically."

"Theoretically? No. Whatever the new present turned out to be, it would be the only one."

"And – theoretically again – that means that there aren't two of the person who went back in time, or of the people who were changed."

"Exactly. As far as we can postulate about time travel, there may be alternate universes, but to any person in any one universe, theirs is the only one that exists and the only one that can be reached."

"Henry!" Grace stood in the doorway, frowning.

Zane jumped. Henry turned around looking guilty. Zane stood up. "Hi, Grace. Henry was helping me with an engineering issue and the conversation turned to… theoretical things."

Grace walked over to Henry and put her arms around him. "You should know better than that, sweetheart. Talking about theoretical things tends to get you in trouble."

Henry kissed his wife on the cheek. "Maybe one day, I'll be as wise as you are. And maybe one day, we can talk about things without getting into trouble." He winked at Zane.

Grace rolled her eyes at her husband and looked over at Zane. "Would you like to stay for lunch? We have jambalaya on the stove."

Zane smiled and shook his head, waving the tablet. "I appreciate the invitation, but I want to get to work on this before I forget how to fix the problem. Another time?"

"Absolutely," said Grace. Zane smiled again at both of them and walked out of the garage. He slipped the tablet into his saddlebag and hopped onto his bike.

After stopping off at Café Diem for some takeout, Zane went home, altered the schematics on his computer, and started running simulations. Henry was right, he thought, this improves efficiency by twelve percent. He leaned back in his chair. I'll have to give him credit when I turn in my report. That should make Parrish's brain explode.

Speaking of exploding brains, Henry had all but confirmed that they had traveled in time. And that there was no going back. So that meant that he was the Zane that had given Jo the ring, but their changes had affected him. And that the Jo that he couldn't stop thinking about, who he'd kissed, and who had kissed him back, was the same Jo that had acted like he was a cockroach on the kitchen floor of the world. That was brain breaking. What was the nursery rhyme? For the want of a nail, the kingdom was lost. Or something like that. At least he was pretty sure he wasn't competing against an alternate version of himself.

He saved his work and then walked back over to the game cabinet. He needed to work off some mental energy; maybe he'd play that game now. He turned on the television and picked up the controller again.

Several hours later, he paused the game, put down the controller, and stretched. It was ridiculously easy to lose a whole day to that kind of escapism. He looked at the clock. Make that nine hours. Wow. Bathroom first, then food. Pizza. Definitely pizza. He'd hit the gym tomorrow.

He was working on his third slice when his phone buzzed again. It was a text from Zoe.

-I'm sending you a video for your eyes only. If you show anyone else or even think about posting it to youtube, I'll tell Jo you have it.

Interested, he sat up and waited. What could this be?


	11. Jo and Zoe part 4

Jo started the car as Zoe put on her seatbelt. "What are you in the mood for?" Zoe asked while scrolling through her mp3 player.

"Why don't you have the newest generation player? There's no scroll or buttons to press, you just speak the name of the song or the playlist and go."

"Yeah, that wouldn't call any attention to me. We're really not supposed to take the latest tech out of Eureka, the town is a _secret_, remember?"

"What about the Bluetooth?" Jo asked. "Won't that draw attention?"

"That's different. No one can see it. Now what do you want to hear?"

"How about some rock?"

"Sounds good to me." Zoe grinned and chose a playlist. The opening licks to Walk This Way blared out of the speakers.

They drove for a while, singing along with the music, sometimes beating the steering wheel and their knees in time. Zoe glanced over at Jo. She was smiling hugely as she sang along to Bad Reputation. When the song was over, Zoe turned down the volume. "I can't believe you know so many songs."

"What?" Jo looked at Zoe and then back at the road. "Oh, yeah. I love music. No matter how horrible things are, there's a song that can make you feel better. Or worse," she said thoughtfully. "Did I ever tell you that I wanted to be a dancer?"

"What? No! Really?"

"Your dad never told you?" Jo paused. "Zoe, were your dad and I… close?" Zoe shot her a half confused, half disgusted look. "I don't mean like _that_, I mean, do you remember us being friends?" Jo hadn't thought about her history with Carter in this timeline. What if they were endangering each other because they acted without thinking?

"Well, sure. Although it took you a bit to warm up to us when we first came to town, but after a few weeks, the inevitable Carter charm got to you, too. The two of you were good buddies up until you took the job at GD. I remember you fighting a little at the time, but things went back to normal after you got settled in."

Jo nodded, relieved. "When I was little, I used to take ballet classes and acted in our small town theater. My mom made all of my costumes. Then she died and it was just me, my dad, and my three brothers. I had to start acting like them in order to survive – my dad wasn't good with girl stuff." She smiled at the memory of her dad shuffling uncomfortably outside the dressing room as the saleslady fit her for her first bra. "I still danced when I was all alone, and I'd watch any dance performance that came on television and try to practice in my room. And singing, well, I sang in the choir at church when I was a teenager, but since then, it's been just along with the radio. Alone."

"Does anyone else know?"

"Not here, no." Jo sighed.

Zoe hesitated before asking, "Is he really that different? Zane, I mean."

Jo chewed on her bottom lip. "Well, his hair is shorter. And he's more muscular. He seems to put up even more of a front than my Zane, too. But intrinsically, he seems to be the same."

Zoe chuckled. "He told me he had to put on some muscle to better defend himself from you when you became head of security."

Jo smirked. "That doesn't surprise me at all."

"Can I run a theory by you?" Jo nodded. "I… I think that he _is_ your Zane."

"What do you mean?"

"I took a theoretical physics class at Tesla, and we had some discussion about parallel universes and alternate realities. I think that since you guys went back, you made the changes, and you came back, this is your home reality. The latest theories state that if there were parallel universes, you couldn't visit another one without exploding. So this has to be your home universe. That means that he is the same person, just with different memories."

Jo thought about that for a minute. "You could be right. But we'll never know for sure." My Zane, she thought. "All I know for certain is we can't go back again."

"Do you want to?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Just a question. Your relationship issues aside, if you could go back to the way things were, would you?"

Jo stared out at the road. Would she go back? Well, she was pretty sure that the others would say no. Allison was happy; her son wasn't autistic. Henry wouldn't have met Grace and now he was happier than he had been in years. Fargo would hate going back to being Allison's assistant. And Carter, well, Carter would be happy either way, as long as he could have Allison. But how would she feel?

"No," she said slowly, "I don't think I would. I like being head of security. I feel like I'm finally where I want to be, career wise. But if I took my relationship issues into consideration… I don't know."

"Jo, why did you hesitate when Zane proposed?"

"I guess… I guess I felt like we were uneven. I know he loved me, and I loved him, but I always felt inferior, like I had to prove that I was good enough for him. Because I wasn't smart enough for him."

"You don't think you were good enough? Do you really think that's true?"

Jo shook her head. "No. I think that we had farther to grow with each other and by ourselves before we took that step. I know for a fact that he hadn't opened up to me all the way and I was still so scared that he'd take up with some hot scientist as soon as he realized that I would never understand the things he loved most." She grinned wryly. "It's amazing that an Army Ranger has such horrible self esteem, I know."

Zoe knew she was pressing her luck, but she decided to dive in anyway. "So do you think you'll try again now that you know what the problems were? It seems like Zane is more than a little bit interested."

Jo opened her mouth and closed it again. Zoe said quietly, "Some people would kill for a second chance."

Jo looked over at her friend and smiled faintly. "I'm glad that I don't have to." Zoe chuckled and turned the music back up.

Later that evening they pulled into the hotel driveway. Jo popped the trunk, got out and handed her keys to the valet, and opened the trunk for the bellman. She walked gingerly towards the concierge with Zoe. "Remind me next time we go on a road trip to check into the hotel and take a break _before_ we sightsee. I'm tired _and_ starving."

Zoe put an arm around her friend. "Hey, we had In-N-Out for lunch."

"Yes, but that was before we went walking on the Golden Gate Bridge and in the park for hours."

"I think it was worth it. I got some amazing pictures."

Jo rolled her eyes and walked over to check in and see about tickets for Alcatraz. Zoe wandered around, looking at the koi ponds and the waterfalls in the atrium. She noticed a drinks station set up and asked for a soda. After a few minutes, Jo joined her and ordered a drink. She took it from the bartender, sipped it, and sighed. "I'm guessing this means you don't want to go out to dinner?" Zoe asked.

Jo shook her head and sipped again. "There's a restaurant here. We can go out again tomorrow." She dropped a dollar into the tip jar. "Let's see what our room looks like. I'm sure it's not as fancy as yesterday's, but they told me we have a bay view."

They rode up and Jo unlocked the door. Their bags were already waiting for them, but Jo walked past them and to the window. It was dark out and you could see the boat lights shining on the water. "I bet sunset is amazing," Zoe said from behind her.

Jo closed the curtains and sat on one of the beds. She pulled her shoes off, sighing in relief. "Maybe room service is in order again," she said as she massaged her feet.

"You're so old and boring," Zoe teased. "Let me find the menu."

They ordered. Zoe pulled her laptop out to send some emails and catch up on her networking sites. She tossed her mp3 player to Jo. "Plug it in to the tv and play some music." Jo complied, choosing a playlist of the highest rated music. She swayed a little to the music, stretching her legs and back to help ease some of the stiffness.

She glanced over at Zoe. She seemed to be engrossed in whatever she was doing. Jo sauntered casually into the parlor area and used the back of a chair as a barre. Zoe knew now anyway, so it didn't matter if she saw Jo practice. She stretched for a bit and went into plies.

Zoe peered over the top of her monitor. Jo was bending and stretching gracefully, eyes closed. It shouldn't have come as a surprise, she thought. Jo had perfect balance and coordination; not all of that was necessarily attributed to martial arts. But the Jo she knew, though fun, never showed an artistic bent. It was amazing what a person could hide, even from those closest to her. Zoe leaned her head on her hand. I still feel guilty, she thought. I need to do something more, something to fix this situation faster and make Jo happy again. Zoe thought for a minute, and then smiled. Being at Harvard had opened her to new experiences, including theater. One of her dormmates was big into musicals and had introduced Zoe to more than a few. She slipped off the bed and queued up a song that she bet Jo knew very well.

Jo switched legs and began stretching again. A blare of trumpets shocked her into standing up straight. Les Mis? Zoe knew Les Mis? She pulled her leg off the back of the chair and turned around, looking into the bedroom. Zoe was still bent over the laptop. Over the speaker, Eponine began singing the opening bars of On My Own. Jo snorted a little bit. If anyone knew I was this sentimental, I think I'd die, she thought as she walked over to the corner. But I'm going to dance anyway. She got into position and waited for the harp to play.

Zoe's jaw dropped as Jo began to dance. This was no spur of the moment thing, Jo had rehearsed this before. She watched Jo glide and turn for a few seconds and then fumbled for her phone. She had to get this on video, even if it was just to convince herself that what she was seeing was real.

Jo sang softly as she danced. This song was perfect for her right now. So sad, but hopeful still the same. She pirouetted and leapt, thinking of all the times Zane walked away from her. Was it one sided, even then? Would it always be that way? She closed her eyes. I wish I could forget. The final measures played and Jo spun slowly and sank to her knees, head bowed.

It was silent for a moment, and then the next song began too loudly. Zoe swallowed hard and closed her phone. She got up, turned down the television, walked over to Jo, and hugged her where she sat. Jo flushed. "You saw that?"

"How could I not? I feel –"A knock at the door interrupted her.

Jo gently disengaged. "Supper's here." She walked to the door and let the waiter in. He rolled in the cart and uncovered it. She tipped him and sat down at the little table, sandwich in hand. She smiled to herself, thinking about the Geneva Convention and the first time she'd met Zane. I wonder what went wrong in this timeline, she thought for the thousandth time.

Zoe picked up her salad and walked back to her laptop. Well, she'd gotten… something. Would it help? She flipped open her phone again and scrolled to the video. This would probably intrigue him. Shock him, too. She glanced over at Jo, then scrolled to the text screen.

-I'm sending you a video for your eyes only. If you show anyone else or even think about posting it to youtube, I'll tell Jo you have it.

She looked at Jo again. This is the right thing to do. It will only make him chase her harder. She chose the video and sent it to Zane.


End file.
